Can DNA Predict Academic Success?

Finally, a good reason to blame your parents for your failings: Scientists recently published a massive study of genetic influence on educational attainment. Drawing on the DNA of more than 1.1 million people from 15 countries, researchers were able to identify 1,200-plus genetic variants associated with how much schooling an individual gets. A previous, smaller study found a mere 74 gene variants, including many involved in brain development, were moderately predictive of academic success. Keyword: “moderately.” Researchers stressed that individual gene variants have “little predictive value,” and provide a maximum of three additional weeks of education, according to Wired. “It would be completely misleading to characterize our results as identifying genes for education,” the corresponding author Daniel Benjamin, an associate professor from the Center for Economic and Social Research at University of Southern California, said in a statement. Together, the 1,271 identified variants explain about 4 percent of the range in educational attainment across individuals. That’s not enough to predict anyone’s academic achievement. That number does increase (as high as 11 to 13 percent), however, when scientists include the effects of all the variants to develop a new polygenic score—which boasts a predictive power equivalent to demographic factors like household income or maternal education. “The most exciting part of this study is the polygenic score,” co-first author Robbee Wedow, a graduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder, said. “Its level of predictive power for a behavioral outcome is truly remarkable.” Still, don’t quit school just because the saliva sample… [Read full story]